San Miguel-Alab targets sweep, finals berth

Alab Pilipinas. Photo from ASEAN Basketball League Facebook

Peaking at just about the right time in the Asean Basketball League (ABL), San Miguel-Alab Pilipinas seeks to punch a ticket to the Finals and dethrone Hong Kong Eastern on Sunday night at City of Santa Rosa Multi-Purpose Complex in Laguna.

With imports Renaldo Balkman and Justin Brownlee in fine form and the support crew playing with plenty of confidence, Alab aims to sweep the best-of-three semifinals in the 8 p.m. duel with an Eastern team that relies heavily on just three players, including PBA-bound Filipino-German Christian Standhardinger.

Balkman proved almost unstoppable on Wednesday night, scoring a playoff record 46 points and grabbing 14 rebounds as the Filipino club nailed their first win in Hong Kong with a 98-94 upset of the second-seeded Eastern at Southorn Stadium.

Brownlee was also instrumental with 16 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, while the local crew led by Ray Parks came up with solid contributions on both ends.

But coach Jimmy Alapag remained wary of Hong Kong, especially with the way it fought back from a double-digit deficit at the end of the third period to give Alab an endgame scare.

“They are the defending champions and they’ve shown the past two seasons that they are capable of overcoming challenges,” said Alapag of the enemy.

“We can’t just expect them (Hong Kong) to show up and give us that Finals spot. We have to work hard for 40 minutes and execute. That’s the only way for us to get to the Finals.”

Alab is hoping to avoid a deciding Game 3 which will be played in Hong Kong on Friday, if necessary. The winner of the series will face the survivor of the matchup between Mono Vampire of Thailand and Chong Son Kung Fu of China. The Thais lead the series, 1-0.